New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-02-07
NEW PUBLICATIONS.


TIE SQUIRE OF sANDAL.sIDE' a Pastoral 40 40
nance. By AMELIA K. BARR lSmo' pp' 'S-'
Dodd. Mead l. Co.
BY wOMANs WIT. BY Mrs ALEXANDER io'no' ff'
255. Henry Holt u Co.
.rho souire OF Sandal-Side' is one OF those
agreeable tales of simple, broad rural life when
Mrs Barr tells so well and is so fond OF tcillng.
nm s time she has laid her in the lake region
nf England among the dales and the archaic
Statesmen Of the district which nutured ords
worth. There is ample opportunity in such sur
roundmgs for the development OF that patI1archai
form Of life the description OF which has 80 gcat
D charm for the city-dweller stated with modern
convcntionaities. The Squire OF Sanda-Slde Is
the representative of family dating back TO the
time of the Vikings family which had held inc
sumo lands since before tho Conquest. 1t had
grown wealthy but not worldly. and It's latesV
head preferred the simple pleasures oil the couh''!
life and the transformations but sond oin"y VI
his ancestral position to all the dfsslpatlons the
metropolis or even the court could oHer IN MS
Ana old hall he lived quietly on his estate with
his two daughters, Sophia and Charlotte, and there
no might have lived happily to the end had ne
not IN a luckless moment been moved to invite
bis nepbew julius to visit him. Julius Is an
Nnglo-Indian, ambitious selfish and mean Fali-
ING 10 win the love of Charlotte, by far the high
er nature Of the two he turns to Sophia, VINO Is
not little like him. and is accepted The usual
prodigal son. Harry, plays the stereotyped paro IN
bringing distress and confusion upon the family
and winds up extravaganza career by marrying
oonsumptive Italian singer and selling his rever-
sionary rights to Julius. The old squire dies oil
most literally Of broken heart. and Julius takes
his place and drives out the widow and Charlotte.
Of course Nemesis is upon his track, and be is
effectually punished lust when he thought his
T1,ara
novelty in the plot but the story is nevertheless
q good one 1t breathes q large and wholesome
atmosphere II takes the reader into delightful
and fertile and prosperous region. and leads him
among sturdy independent dalesnen. VINO holo
themselves to be as gentle their social super1os
and stand for their rights against the KING Inc
people are strongly drawn. with due local Color
and idiosyncrases. The description OF scenery Is
sympathetic and full Of perception. The local
customs are carefully detailed and with plctur-
esoue facility. There Is good art and honest
labor in the book and breeziness which Is re-
freshing in contrast with some of the novels OF
the period which seem intended to convey the i'm
preston that European society at the end OF the
nineteenth century is reverting In its higher cir
cles. to the morals and manners of the French
Regency.
Mrs. Alexander has not given particularly
bappy illustration of "woman's wit in thls story
Whether it is proof of wit in woman to secure
In marriage, by devious man9uvres. man whom
The knows to have committed felony and to be
aeeply in love with another girl, is a question
perhaps more easily determined than this author
appears to imagine The heroine who performs
his curious feat is herself by no means agree
lble person. but the squire of high degree Tor
whom she spreads her net, and who is so entirely
,ree from preiudices that he chloroforms and obs
If her Jewels the very guest In whose honor he
has filed his house with brilliant company. Is
moss between Lara and jim the Penman. too
mazing to be taken seriously. Nora DLstransc.
Who engages herself to this pretentious country
,entleman without really caring for HMM fact
.fter she has lost her heart to another man-ls
much more natural and Pleasing character, though
It must be confessed that the lover who finally
bears her off is o trine wooden to have cau"ht
The affections of so ethereal creature The story
IS told with the and adroitness to be expected
from so accomplished writer. and 1t rs certainly
interesting But there is straining after effect
In the plct which produces an irritating imp es
HON. and the effort to be original has resulted in
something not far removed from monstrosity as re-
yards the principal persOnage. Ii Is true that
the marriage between Clifford Marsden and Mrs
Ruthven who cheerfully offers him the alterna-
tive of penal transportation, and so gains his even
then reluctant consent to the union represented
as turning out mhappily, but THAI concession 70
the eternal verites comes too late and is too par
tial to retrieve or atone for the precedent 1mposs
bilities Of the story.